We spent some time walking around Umeda but the area was getting a little crowded with a number of Christmas countdown events happening within a couple of hours. Jelloman decided to avoid the crowd by heading down to the underground shopping streets but I wasn’t ready to leave yet; at least not without my caffeine fix. So, when everyone started to go underground, I went a different path.
The Ritz Carlton Osaka is one of my favorite hotels in Osaka for many different reasons. For one, it’s got some of the best hotel restaurants in town with La Baie and Hanagatami leading the list. Their gourmet shop also offers a very nice variety of French pastries which had me drooling a bit when I paid my last visit. And I figured this would be the perfect time for me to do it again when the gang was shopping in the underground streets!
(Photo taken in 2018)
Too bad The Gourmet Shop closed early today on Christmas Eve and I narrowly missed out! Just when I thought I was totally doomed, the idea of having my afternoon tea at The Lobby Lounge suddenly popped up. Yeah, they serve the same pastries from The Gourmet Shop too!
Sitting next to the piano and soaking up the vibe of the old-world European charm. It couldn’t get any better than this.
.JPG)
The lounge was starting to get a little busy with Christmas Eve dinner coming up. It's about time to turn the attention back to my afternoon tea!
Royal milk tea – Double my enjoyment with a sip of tea! Priceless.
Chocolate mousse cake – At this hour, there were only a handful of pastries left. The Ritz-Carlton signature Chocolate Cake with Grand Marnier was the easy choice but another pastry caught my eyes as my server described it as a chocolate mousse cake with a hint of ginger. That sounds like fun!
The multi-layered chocolate tasted a lot like an opera cake, with layers of dark chocolate ganache, sponge and chocolate mousse. The difference maker for me was definitely the gelatin layer in the middle that I thought was coffee syrup with ginger, bringing some extra heat to the cake. I really like the contrasting textures from the different layers, delivering varying degrees of sweetness and bitterness. And there was the shredded coconut on top for a flaky finish.
This was indeed very delicate and very filling at the same time. Now, it's time for me to wrap things up and re-join with the gang. I've heard that they just met up with little nugget's friend at Mister Donut for some Pokemon doughnuts. Can't wait to check those out myself.
Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: ￥￥￥
Address: G/F The Ritz Carlton Osaka, 2-5-25 Umeda, Kita Ward, Osaka 530-0001, Japan
Closest Metro Station: Umeda
Tel: +81 (0)6 6343-7020
Website: lounge.ritzcarltonosaka.com
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 9:00pm (Mon - Fri), 11:00am - 9:00pm (Sat - Sun)
Post a Comment
Please tell us what you think